After the New York Giants declined his fifth-year option for 2023, Daniel Jones responded by posting the best season of his career and setting himself up for a significant payday. Jones is scheduled to become a free agent in mid-March, but the Giants will likely assign him the franchise tag if the two sides can’t agree to an extension. But on the off chance Jones actually reaches the open market, several NFL teams could potentially express interest in the former first-rounder.
Daniel Jones Free Agency Predictions
Because Jones and running back Saquon Barkley both put up outstanding seasons in their walk years, the Giants are now faced with a fascinating offseason tree. With only one franchise tag at their disposal, can New York reach a long-term agreement with at least one of its high-profile free agents?
At his end-of-season press conference in January, Giants general manager Joe Schoen all but admitted he would use the franchise tender on Jones if forced to choose. Schoen said Big Blue was “happy Daniel is going to be here” and alluded to the tag by noting the Giants “have tools at our disposal.”
Schoen said New York had “productive conversations” with Jones and Barkley’s representatives at the Scouting Combine this week, adding he’d prefer not to use the tag on either player.
“We’ll see if it gets to that,” Schoen said. “We’re hoping we don’t get to where it’s one or the other. It doesn’t have to be that way. If it did, we wouldn’t have contract offers out to both of them. It’s not necessarily one is getting tagged.”
Working with first-year Giants head coach Brian Daboll and offensive coordinator Mike Kafka, Jones set career highs in completion rate (67.2 percent) and passing yards (3,205) while leading the NFL with a 1.1 percent interception rate. He improved as a rushing threat (708 yards, eight touchdowns) while helping New York advance to the Divisional Round of the playoffs.
Atlanta Falcons Have Plenty of Cap Space To Burn
The only team with more cap space than the Falcons is the Bears, who are not in the market for a veteran quarterback. Atlanta has already released Marcus Mariota, a 13-game starter in 2022, leaving last year’s third-round pick, Desmond Ridder, as the club’s current starter.
Whether or not Ridder will still be the Falcons’ QB1 when the regular season gets underway is another question. Atlanta has several avenues to pursue other passers, including the No. 8 overall pick in the upcoming draft and the aforementioned pool of available cap space.
Jones would present an intriguing option for the Falcons. It’s incredibly unlikely that Atlanta would sign a franchise-tagged Jones to an offer sheet; if the Giants failed to match the proposal, the Falcons would have to send two first-round picks to New York. Jones looked vastly improved last season, but two first-rounders is the price tag for elite quarterbacks — which Jones isn’t.
If Jones became available as an unrestricted free agent, he would profile as an exemplary fit for Arthur Smith’s offense. Sixty quarterbacks attempted at least 50 passes in 2022 — Mariota, Ridder, and Jones were among the 13 signal-callers who used play action on at least 30 percent of their dropbacks.
Jones Could Help Jumpstart a Titans Reset
The Titans seem to be moving in a new direction after cutting several veterans — including left tackle Taylor Lewan and wide receiver Robert Woods — en route to creating $35+ million in additional cap space.
For now, Ryan Tannehill is still Tennessee’s projected starting quarterback. First-year general manager Ran Carthon said this week he’s “excited about moving forward” with Tannehill, who has a $36.6 million cap charge in 2023.
If the Titans want to turn over a more youthful leaf, a young quarterback like Jones — who is nine years Tannehill’s junior — could make sense. With Tannehill in a new destination via either trade or release, Tennessee would only have one quarterback on its roster: 2022 third-round selection Malik Willis.
The Titans essentially gave up on Willis after he struggled in three starts, turning things over to journeyman Joshua Dobbs, who at least looked competent in two starts of his own. Dobbs is now a pending free agent, and given that those were the first two starts of the 28-year-old’s career, he’s probably not a realistic starting option for Tennessee.
Young quarterbacks with Jones’ pedigree don’t often hit the open market, and the Titans would have to at least consider a pursuit if the Giants fail to retain him. However, Jones’ success in New York was due at least in part to the offensive structure created by Daboll and Kafka. It’s unclear whether new Titans OC Tim Kelly can foster the same type of environment or whether Tennessee would require Jones to overcome its offensive deficiencies.
Las Vegas Raiders Searching for Post-Derek Carr Options
Like the Falcons, the Raiders have plenty of space ($48.4 million) to make meaningful additions this offseason. But Las Vegas’ quarterback situation is even more wide open than Atlanta’s after the club released longtime starter Derek Carr in February.
There’s no Desmond Ridder on the Raiders’ roster. Since drafting Carr in 2014, Las Vegas selected only one more quarterback over the next eight drafts: Michigan State’s Connor Cook in the fifth round of the 2015 draft.
Raiders head coach Josh McDaniels is most well-known for his work with Tom Brady in New England, and he coached another pocket passer in Carr last season. Jones offers a different skill set. As a rushing threat willing to take off when his receivers are covered, Jones could thrive with some of the same offensive concepts deployed by McDaniels when Cam Newton averaged 9.1 carries per game for the 2020 Patriots.
The only problem with Jones’ fit in Las Vegas? The Raiders hold the seventh overall pick in the draft and seem intent on adding a rookie quarterback.
“I think if you have the opportunity where you have a guy that’s on a rookie deal, and he’s your guy, and he’s playing for you, and he’s a guy you feel that you can win football games with, there is an element of capitalizing on that, especially with where quarterback salaries are going, and the guarantees and things like that,” Raiders general manager Dave Ziegler told The Athletic in February.
Daniel Jones Market Value, Career Stats, and More
The non-exclusive franchise tag would allow the Giants to retain Jones for one year and a fully guaranteed $32.416 million. Given the reported gap between Jones’ asking price and the rate at which New York is comfortable paying its fifth-year quarterback, the franchise tender appears overwhelmingly likely.
Jones, who recently changed agencies from Creative Artists Agency to Athletes First, may be targeting a salary as high as $45 million per year. Only five quarterbacks — Aaron Rodgers, Russell Wilson, Kyler Murray, Deshaun Watson, and Patrick Mahomes — have reached that annual salary.
The Giants had been hoping for Jones’ price tag to come in around $30 to $40 million, which would place him in the middle-class tier of quarterback salaries that also includes Dak Prescott and Kirk Cousins. However, ESPN’s Dianna Russini reported on Feb. 28 that New York is “set on a certain number they think Daniel Jones is worth,” a figure that is “nowhere near what Jones’ camp believes” he’s worth.
On Thursday, Schoen told NFL Network that “things ramped up pretty quick” with Jones’ new representation but also suggested that a contract agreement was not imminent.
“You’re starting to feel the time crunch a little bit,” Schoen said. “I wish we were a little bit closer on a deal than what we are right now. But again, there’s still time.”
Jones is our No. 2 free agent for a reason: He’s a young quarterback with a first-round pedigree who experienced a great deal of success last season. Still, question marks still exist, and every dollar the Giants invest in Jones is a dollar they can’t use to build the rest of their roster around him.
While Jones has every right to target his preferred salary range, New York has every right to use the franchise tag and re-assess next offseason. Barring an unforeseen turn of events, that looks like the most likely outcome.
Daniel Jones Career Stats
- Games Played: 54
- Games Started: 53
- Passing Attempts: 1,740
- Passing Completions: 1,113
- Passing Yards: 11,603
- Passing Touchdowns: 60
- Interceptions: 34
- Rushing Attempts: 292
- Rushing Yards: 1,708
- Rushing Touchdowns: 12